The Last Quincy
by DeChunk
Summary: A tale of Bleach's human characters after all is said and done, with focus on Uryu's only son. Please review.
1. February 18: 6:49 am

The Last Quincy

By DeChunk

Based on characters created by Tite Kubo.

Sunday, February 18: 6:49 am.

Tatsuya woke up in his bed, where he had fallen asleep the night before. He was five years old and knew that it was early enough for cartoons to be on. At least the kinds of cartoons Uncle Chad said he could watch. Kon was still held tight to his body. He didn't know why Mommy had named the stuffed lion, but it meant something to her, so he didn't argue with it. Rubbing his eyes, Tatsuya got up out of his bed and downstairs to the living room. No one else was up at this hour, so he'd have the tv all to himself.

At least, that's how things usually were.

The living room had a sliding glass door that led out to the patio, and was on the opposite side of where you'd be if you came down the stairs instead of through the front door. Tatsuya was positioned here, and he could see Mommy sitting in a squatting position on the ground. She was wearing a pink bathrobe and had what seemed to be steam coming off of her head. Curious, he opened the door and stepped outside.

Mommy turned around with a shock, her red hair flipping wildly towards her back. Her face showed a sense of fear, like when the killer nabs the girl at the beginning of a horror movie. But this was not a movie and Mommy knew Tatsuya was not a killer. The fear faded with a sigh of relief. Her hands naturally swung behind her back as she stood up and faced her son.

"Ta-kun," Mommy called him, her familiar smile returning. "What are you and Kon doing up so early?"

Tatsuya was a little worried. "My shows are going to be on soon." The boy paused before continuing. "Why was there smoke coming from your head?"

"That- that was nothing. Sometimes Mommy just thinks a little too hard." Mommy stuck her tongue out and tapped her head with her fist, other hand safely behind her back.

"Will my head steam up if I think too hard?"

"No, you've got your Daddy's head. You'll be fine." She used her revealed hand to turn Tatsuya around and then dropped something to the ground behind her and kicked it away. "Here, let's watch some tv, okay?"

"Okay!" Tatsuya ran to the couch and hit the big red button on the remote. The television turned on with a ping and faded in both the picture and the sound at equal rates, but with sound being slightly ahead of the video. The opening channel was some news station that Daddy always watched. Click click. Cartoons. And with that Tatsuya spent the next two hours staring at the television.

Orihime looked at her son and smiled, stroking his hair. He was a sparkly glimmering orb in a dark, smelly world. She thought of Tatsuya as a golden child, standing on a podium, slowly spinning with little rays of light and stars coming off of it. Then he stopped spinning and the podium was in a large stone cave. Then she adjusted her wide brimmed hat and pulled a rock out of her pocket. Carefully, she approached the idol, tongue out, eyes unblinking. Then with an instantaneous motion, swapped the idol for the rock, and nothing seemed to be wrong. That was until the large boulder chased after her. She ran away, idol in hand, as fast as she could. The boulder kept chasing and chasing, catching up to her, until finally it squashed her and pulled her with it. It kept rolling and rolling, picking up more and more stuff until it had a 300 meter radius. And then she became part of the moon.

Orihime shook herself out of her daydream. Those didn't happen as much as they used to. Her hand was still stroking Tatsuya's head. She was thankful for her muscle memory. The latest Kamen Rider was on and the boy was bouncing up and down with anticipation for the fight. She had spent an hour in that last daydream. Huh. Orihime ran her right hand through her own hair, pushing it out of her face and over her shoulder. She hadn't worn her hairclips for about eight years now, and was wondering where she put them.

A sudden jolt came from her son, jumping for joy as the good guy punched the bad guy in the face-helmet thing. Tatsuya shouted at the television and waved Kon in the air frantically. His smiling face, his calming voice. Orihime smiled and tussled the hair of her only child. Giving him a great big hug and holding him close to her chest, she was reminded of a love once lost and never would be.


	2. February 18: 7:30 am

Sunday, Febuary 18: 7:30 am

Daddy came downstairs right after the first show. He was a very neat and tidy man. His clothes were all white and angular and everything in the house was clean because of him. Tatsuya had only seen him smile a few times in the past, and that always worried him. Daddy was never angry, just very business-like. Kind of like how the bosses on tv shows act. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and pair of pants and was rubbing his eyes with his glasses in his right hand.

"Goodmorning, father!" Mommy said with a sort of cheeriness that Tatsuya didn't like.

"Goodmorning, Orihime." There was a slight pause as he put his glasses on and saw his son sitting on the couch as well. "Tatsuya." Daddy quickly looked in front of son and then headed into the kitchen. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Mommy stopped rubbing Tatsuya's head.

"I haven't had anything yet," Tatsuya said with no restraint. "But I could go for some eggs."

Orihime turned around to look at her husband. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask. He came down and then we were watching Kamen Rider and-"

Uryû held up his hand and then turned his face to meet hers. "What would you like, dear?"

Orihime struggled to find her words but instead hung her head and said, "I'll have eggs too."

"Eggs it is then." He then went to the fridge and grabbed a carton. There were four eggs left. Just enough for the three of them. "Would you like rice with that?"

"Yea!" Tatsuya shouted.

"Um, and I'll also have-" Orihime started.

Uryû once again held up his hand to interrupt her, but this time did not look back. "I know all the weird things you like to eat, so I'll let you fix your own plate."

The red-headed mother once again lowered her head and then walked to the kitchen. She squeezed past her husband and opened up the cupboard. Many cans of random assorted food littered the shelves. Orihime grabbed a can of pineapple chunks and sweet bean paste and looked for a third topping. "Honey, do know where the barbeque sauce is?" she asked.

Uryû stopped cooking and looked up. Not at her, but up. After a short period of thought, he responded, "Check the refrigerator door. I think you left it there after we made noodles."

She checked the refrigerator door. "I can't find it."

"Between the pickles and the mustard."

There it was. "Thank you." He was right. He was always right, and there was never any real doubt in either of their minds about it. She walked back to the table, strange toppings in hand and waited for the eggs to be done.

Tatsuya was unphased by all of this and continued watching his morning shows and screaming at the television every once in a while. Although Uryû didn't particularly enjoy his offspring yelling at fictional characters, he at least understood that Tatsuya should have a normal childhood, and he knew Tatsuya wouldn't have one the if he treated his son like his father treated him. So Uryû bit his lip and decided to take an interest.

"What'cha watchin' there, Tatsuya?" the father asked his son.

The boy looked at the screen for a few seconds, then turned around and said, "I don't know."

This unnerved Uryû an iota, but he tried not to let it show. "You're just like your mother sometimes, you know that?" he said with a laugh in his voice.

The eggs were finally finished and Uryû brought the skillet to the table. Problem was, the table hadn't been set yet. He looked at his wife who was somewhere in her la-la-land again and sighed. He set the skillet down gently and went to get some plates and utensils.

"Don't eat the donut!" Orihime suddenly screamed. Had it been anyone else, the whole room would have jumped, but because this particular female had uttered the words there was not even a second thought. After her outburst, she looked across the room and saw Uryû gathering the supplies. "Oh! I can get it, dear," she cried.

"Don't worry, I've got it," said her husband. "Sit back down and I'll be over in a second." He turned around with three plates and an equal amount of forks. "Son, it's time to eat!"

Tatsuya hopped off the couch and sped around to the table to make sure he got a good view of the tv from his seat. He got there before his father had reached the end of the kitchen. Patiently they all waited for Uryû to get everything ready and sit down. He wasn't quick about it, but every motion was deliberate and precise. Tatsuya tried to start eating.

"Tatsuya," he father lightly scolded, continuing to serve breakfast, "It's impolite to start eating before everyone else."

The boy put down his fork and waited for his father to finish.

After all of the preparation, Daddy sat down and picked up his fork. The other two took this as their cue to begin and Mommy started putting on all of her toppings.

"Mommy, can I have some of the pineapple?" Tatsuya asked.

Mommy smiled at her son and replied, "You sure can, little buddy," and gave him the open can.

He poured a liberal amount on his eggs when Daddy said, "I honestly do not know how you two can eat like that," and continued eating.

Mommy stopped spreading the bean paste and put the jar down.

The morning was like any other, but the day would not end on an ordinary note. Before it was through, Mommy would be crying and Daddy would be very angry.


	3. February 18: 9:45 am

Sunday, February 18: 9:45 AM

Breakfast had been finished for quite some time, and the family of three was relaxing the best they could, even though Mommy seemed quite tense. She was just sitting on the couch watching the next show on Tatsuya's line up, but it was fine. After all, Ultraman needed his help to defeat the evil MechaGodzilla! The boy made noises as the plastic figures flew around each other and fired off various weapons that always seemed to hit with an explosion of sorts.

That's when Daddy came down from upstairs in his outside clothes which included a big white coat that went past his knees, and a white tie with blue stripes. Seeing the state Mommy was in, Daddy just shook his head and joined Mommy on the couch to watch the absurdities that Tatsuya created.

"Did they get here yet?" Mommy asked.

"Do you see them in the living room, dear?" Daddy said without looking away from his son.

Mommy just sort of tapped her fingers together and looked down at the floor. Before she could apologize, the doorbell rang.

Mommy opened the door with cautious excitement. "Ururu! I'm so glad you could make it."

Ururu gave a short chuckle. She was dressed in fairly plain winter clothes and her ponytails looked crushed underneath her poof ball hat. "It's really no problem, Mrs. Ishida."

Orihime gave Ururu a big hug. "Come on, you don't have to call me that. It makes me sound like a school teacher."

Ururu blushed. "Alright,… Orihime."

Orihime smiled, and then looked around outside. "Isn't Jinta usually with you?"

"Not this time. He said was too old to be looking after little kids."

Orihime smile faded a bit. "Aw, but you two were such a good team."

"Are you going to invite her in or just let the poor girl freeze outside our door?" came a voice from the living room.

Orihime jumped at the words. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot how cold it was outside and I left you on the stoop here- Please, come inside."

Ururu took a step in, knocked the snow off her boots, and put them off to the side. "Now where's my walking time bomb?"

Tatsuya looked up from his imaginary battle and ran to the door. "I'm right here!" and with that jumped into Ururu's arms. "Kwa-BLAM!"

"Ugh!" Ururu cried as she fell to the floor, playing along with their running gag. "You got me. Alright, now it's time for you to recharge your explosion cells."

Tatsuya raced back to the couch next to his father and sat meditating with his hands on his knees and his feet crossed.

Uryu looked at the boy with a sense of awe. "I still don't know how you convinced him of it."

Ururu smiled. "Everything can be accomplished by playing the right game. So, you guys going off to meet up with the rest of them?"

"We will," Uryu stated, "as soon as my lovely wife decides to get ready for the day."

Orihime looked down at her clothing and felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'll get-"

Uryu held up his hand. "Just go put some jeans on, and I'll get your coat ready for you." He turned to Ururu. "Speaking of which, may I take yours?"

Ururu took off her coat and hat. "Thanks, Dr. Ishida- oop! Do you want me to call you Uryu like Orihime does?"

"Either one is fine, Ms. Tsumugia." He took both of them and put them in the closet next to Orihime's coat, which he then grabbed and hung over his forearm.

With her coat off, her shirt revealed yet another one of Urahara's logo changes as of recently. They had been getting more and more bizarre, with this one in the shape of a blueberry muffin.

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Orihime said as she rushed down the stairs. She now looked mildly presentable, with a button down pink shirt and some slacks she hadn't worn in quite some time.

Uryu gave Orihime her coat and turned back to their baby sitter. "He's been forgetting meals lately, so make sure he eats enough and make sure he runs around outside a little. I don't want him glued to the tv all day. Having said that, we'll be home by ten tonight, and we'll be paying the normal rate."

Ururu gave him a little salute and went over to Tatsuya on the couch and joined in his meditation.

Orihime had a rare somber look on her face.

"Are you going to be alright today?"

She shook out of her zone, "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just some old friends, right?"

Uryu smiled and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Old friends indeed." The two then walked out the door into the cold wet city.


End file.
